Tie-plate.



No. 873,707. PATENTBD DEG. 1'7, 190.7.

` E. H. BELL. TIBPLATEL IIIIIIIIIIIIII BD'Nov.13.19o.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE.

EDWIN H. BELL, OF CIIICAGO, ILLINOIS, `ASSIUrNOR 'IO THE RAILROAD SUPPLY COMPANY, lOl" CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

TIE-PLATE Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Application led November 13. 1906. Serial No. 343.220.

vented a certain new and useful Improve` nient in Tie-Plates, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe saine, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accom` Vpanying drawings, which form a part of this in their upper surfaces.-

` and eX editiously makinoF tie A sti further object omy invention is to' provide a tie plate which willbe simple in construction, inexpensive lin manufacturespecification.

My invention-relates in general to railroad track fastenings, and more particularly to tie plates.4 Y

It is customary to interposev metallic plates between railroad rails and-the supporting ties in order to prevent the wearing away of the ties by the rails, and in order to more firmly secure the 4railsto the ties and thereby prevent both longitudinal creeping and lateral spreadingof the rails with respect to the ties.

-It is desirable that tieplates should have ribs or anges on their under surfaces to prevent movement of the plates upon' the ties,

and should also have shoulders on their u er surfaces to preventspreading of the rai s. n order that tie lates may be as light as possible, and at t e same' time possess the requisite strength they may be adv-antageously provided with longitudinalgrooves The pnmary object of my invention isto provide a tie plate which, when ap lied to,a' tie will not creep thereon, which p reventf` spreading of the rails,` and which will possess( t e requisitestructural strength with a mini-'- .mum weight..

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved process for economically plates.

and eiicient in use.

My invention will be more l herelnater with reference tothe accompanymg drawing in which the same is illustrated .as embodied in two convenient and practical forms, and in which v lFigure 1 is a perspective view of the rolled blank; Fig. 2 a perspective view of a tie plate formed by shearing the blank shown in Fig.` 1; and'Fig. 3 a perspective view of a modl- `fully described ied fdrm of tie plate made from the blank shown in Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters are used to deslgnate slmilar parts 1n the several figures Patented Dec. 17, 1907.1 l

The metal of which'the tie plate is to be formed is passed between suitable rolls so Vas to forni a blank such as shown in Fig. l comprising parallel flanges B, B extending longitudinally beneath the surface of the plate, intermediate flanges b', b of less depth than the flanges B", parallel grooves D', and dgarranged above the 'lianges B, and b', and flanges C', and C2 projecting upwardly from the side edges of the blank.

- Portions of the langes C and C2 are sheared from the blank along planes at right angles to the surface of the plate thereby forming shoulders to be engaged by the edge ,of the base of a rail to prevent the spreading of the rails of a track.

The flanges may be sheared intermediate 'of their ends as shown-in Fig. 2 so as'to leave a pair of shoulders c', c adjacent one end of the plate and a second pair of shoulders c2, c2 adjacent the opposite end of'the plate. The distance between the pairs of shoulders corresponds to the width of the rail base so that the rail will be prevented from lateral movement relative to the plate through the v engagement of the edges of the base ofthe rai with the airs of shoulders.

In Fig. 3 have shown -a modified form of tie plate made from the blank shown in Fig.

. 1;.,by shearing 0H the flanges C and C2 so asto .leave onlylone pair of shoulders 'c3 and c4 ad- If desired'the.- shoulders in each' pair may be of une ual jacent'one end, of the plate.

lengths in order thatthe plates when use on 4 .curves may be placed longitudinally upon the ties and at the same time afford supports for the edge of the rail base which extends in an inclined direction across the ties. I have indicated in Fig. 3 the shoulders c3 and c4 of unequal lengths, the shoulder c4 being shorter than the shoulder c3.

Each plate is provided with holes throughV which spikes may be driven to tightly secure the same to a tie. A single spike hole E2 is provided through the end of the late extending inside of the rail base w `le two be securely fastened to a tie by driving the depending flanges B and b into the grain of the wood, and will positively prevent the spreading of the rail owing to the pair of 5 shoulders on the upper surface thereof against which the edge of the rail base engages. By forming the parallel grooves in the upper surface of the plate it is rendered lighter in weight and thereby rendered cheaper and 'more economical inv construction. l

It will be observed that the shoulder also serves to prevent the base of the rail cutting the head of the spike inasmuch as the hole for the spike is formed in line with the shoulder. l

The compression of the fibers oiv the tie when the plate is seated owing to the arched construction of the flanges of the plate, makes a stronger seat for the plate and also prevents the decay of the tie.

From the foregoing descriptionit will be observed that l have invented an `improved tie plate and have also invented an improved process by means of which tie plates may be economically and expeditiously made.

Having now fully described rny invention what I claim as new and desire to-secure by Letters Patent is:

5 side flanges of less thickness than the body l 1. A. tie plate comprising a ilat body por-V I portion projecting laterally and then upwardly from the body portion to form shoul-v lders adapted to engage with the base 'ilange of a rail.

2. A tie plate having a series of longitudinal groovesfornied in its up er face and having side portions of less thickness than the body portieri, said side portions extending laterallyl and then upwardly so as to form shoulders to engage the base flange of a rail, a series of longitudinal. ribs arranged on the under side of the plate directly beneath the longitudinal grooves, the intermediate ribs being of less depth than the outside ribs and the outside-ribs being arranged at the intersection of the side portions with the main body portion.

3. The process of manufacturing tie plates [which consists in iirst rolling the metal to form a blank having parallel ribs on its under-surface, parallel grooves in its upper sur- Fface arranged in alinement With said ribs, and thin anges projecting outwardly and upwardly along the side edges thereof, and 4subsequently shearing oilV portions of saidv flanges at planes at right angles to the sur-` face of the blank to forni shoulders projecting upwardly from the side edges of the plate.`

In testimony whereof, I sign this specica- -I tion'in the presence of two witnesses.

, p EDWIN H. BElliL.l

l/Vitnesses:

Gao. L. WrLKrNsoN, HARRY' S. GMTHER; 

